Economic fluctuations affecting occupational safety. The Spanish case

Abstract

Safety science, in its multidisciplinary approach, has been enriched by the contributions of economic science practically from the beginning of its development. In this area of knowledge, a particularly relevant subject matter is the impact of economic fluctuations or cycles over the effect indicators of safety (incidence indexes). Two theories have been put forward from the field of safety: intensification theory and vulnerability theory. In this paper, the authors propose an integrative theory and analyse the Spanish situation in the light of this new theory, validating its application.

Occupational accidents and the economic cycle in Spain 1994–2014

“…There is an immediate reason for this: the working population increases during economic growth, and this increases the number of accidents. In times of lower growth or economic crisis the reverse mechanism sets in: less people at work leads to fewer accidents (Terrés et al, 2004;De la Fuente et al, 2014).…”

“…According to Nichols (1989), at the start of an economic upturn employers take some time before hiring workers, thus resulting in an increase in work intensity and occupational accidents. This argument is based in a well-known relation between the labour market and the economic cycle: the labour market lags behind the economic cycle (Terrés et al, 2004). Since Kossoris's (1938) pioneering work, a large number of researchers has confirmed the association between economic cycle and occupational accidents (e.g., Ruser, 1985;Viscusi, 1986;Shea, 1990;Lanoie, 1992;Fabiano et al, 1995;Brooker et al, 1997;Davies et al, 2009;Asfaw et al, 2011).…”